'Godzilla' Destroys Box Office with $90+ Million

As late as Thursday the box office prognosticators were estimating “Godzilla” would land somewhere around $65 for this, it’s debut weekend. Normally I stay away from the business of guesswork, especially as it pertains to what a fickle public will and won’t flock to, but that seemed awfully low to me, and it was. After a spectacular Thursday night take of over $9 million, it now looks as though the apolitical, pro-American military “Godzilla” is now headed towards a $90+ million weekend.

Holding strong at second place is “Neighbors.” Another $27 million this weekend will bring its total to somewhere around $94 million. The R-rated, frat vs. family, gross-out comedy has already hauled in $35 million overseas, which means it’s well into profit territory, nowhere near slowing down, and printing money for all involved.

Coming in third is “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” In its third weekend, the sequel to the 2012 reboot drew $16.5 million worth of customers, bringing its total to $172 million. While impressive on its face, ASM2 is tracking $50 million behind its predecessor and more than $110 million behind Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2” (2004). ASM2 will need a worldwide gross of over $750 million just to break even. As of now that goal is looking iffy.

Sony wagered a lot rebooting its most lucrative franchise just 5 years after “Spider-Man 3.” The studio then went all in with the announcement that the Spider-Man universe would be expanded Marvel-style. With ASM2 petering out and ASM3 not even in production, Sony is already hyping “The Amazing Spider-Man 4.”

There is no question ASM2 is popular but with escalating production and promotion costs, incredible as it may sound, it might not be profitable. Either way, the franchise is certainly not the money-printing machine the studio had counted on.

Coming in at number four is Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm.” The baseball story starring “Mad Men’s” Jon Hamm wasn’t expected to do well and didn’t. It is looking at a meager $10.5 million opening.

In its 5th weekend, “Heaven Is for Real ” will climb to $82.5 million. “Mom’s Night Out,” a Christian comedy starring Patricia Heaton, dropped 48% in its second weekend and will land at $7.6 million by Monday.

Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend, which should be great for “Neighbors” and “Godzilla.” Spider-Man is likely to get pummeled by Bryan Singer’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” thanks in large part to spectacular reviews.